Pure Progress

Posted on September 14, 2010Posted by Jim Sher

I’d like to share with you an astrological principle that I have called “Pure Progress.” It is perhaps not totally ‘pure’, but as I have Sagittarius rising, I hope to be forgiven for exaggerating a little bit. There is a phenomenon that occurs for 7 weeks each year that is really worth noticing. The planet involved in this brief cycle is Saturn, which is the primary ruler of the principle of development. Since Saturn is what we look at when we want to find out how things will manifest in the world, it is also where we are not allowed to miss steps. If we do, we will be forced to come back, find the errors and fix them. For example, if a builder makes a mistake when constructing the foundation of a building, any ‘missed step’ could cause the entire building to fall after the project is completed, if it even gets that far.

So, let me describe how Saturn moves, since that will tell you exactly what part of the Saturn cycle we are in now. Saturn spends up to 11 months in territory that it goes over three times. Specifically, Saturn was at 27° Virgo on October 11, 2009 for the first time in this cycle. It then went to 4° Libra on January 13, 2010 when it retrograded back to 27° Virgo on May 30, 2010 and turned direct there and then for the third pass it moved forward again and reached 4° Libra on September 5. 2010. So, from October 11, 2009 until September 5, 2010, it was operating in the territory between 27° of Virgo and 4° of Libra. That’s almost 11 months and Saturn only moved 7 degrees. This means that Saturn demands that we be thorough with our plans and actions or we will have to come back and deal with it at some point in this period.

PURE PROGRESS – However, right now, Saturn is in territory that it will move through only ONCE. It began on September 5, 2010 and will end on October 23, 2010 at 10° Libra. Saturn then repeats the cycle again and spends 11 months in the territory between 10° – 17° of Libra. This part of the Saturn cycle occurs for only 7 weeks, which is just about the average time that “Pure Progress” usually lasts.

I have watched this Saturn movement for over 30 years as frankly it bugs me more than any astrological factor. Yes, it does bug me at times, since my enthusiastic Jupiterian nature tends to want to progress all the time. With maturity, I’ve come to see the value of the slowness of Saturn’s movement and therefore do feel much less frustrated than I used to feel, but still…..

What this suggests is that this is a good time to work on anything you are developing with as much energy and effort as possible. You can take advantage of this period because you can feel confident that the work you have been doing the last 11 months has prepared you for the progress you can make now. We’ve earned it!! We can also be pretty confident that whatever we are working on now will work out in a manner that is close to what we are envisioning as there will not be the need for review of this area. After Saturn reaches 10° Libra on October 23, it will be back into areas where it will be for 11 months, so this is why I have named this brief 7 weeks as the period of Pure Progress.

The reason it isn’t completely pure is that there are two retrograde cycles within it. The first is the Mercury retrograde period that has just completed. On Sunday, September 12, 2010, Mercury turned direct and is now accelerating back to its regular fast motion. So, right now, we are in the period of optimum advancement. What could slow us down a bit later is the fact that Venus goes retrograde on October 8, 2010. I will go into this in future newsletter articles, but briefly Venus retrograde periods ask us to review our values, which includes our relationships and how we are functioning in them, our finances and approach to money, our spending habits, and more.

Nevertheless, when it comes to progressing with our plans and the development of projects we are in already, this brief period is a time we can really use to our benefit. Many of you are already feeling this. In my own experience, I feel much clearer about where I want to go in the development of my second website which will enable me to go public with a new School I have planned for many years. It is aligned with astrology but will create programs that can assist us to grow spiritually in some very unique ways. What I’ve noticed is that I have been going back and forth about many factors and details of the School and now it has all cleared up. It feels like I know what I want to create and can envision the nature of the School more concisely than ever and can even see where it all can lead. Also, much needed help is coming forth right now that is necessary to help the school develop and grow. This is an example of what Saturn transits are all about as they push us to move ahead or slow us down if we need to clarify things in the attempt to create a structure or manifest something in our personal world or even in the outer one.

The New Moon – We also have recently had a New Moon. It was on September 8, 2010 at 15° of Virgo. As I’ve written a New Moon is a time for making new starts. But when you combine this with what I’ve just written about Saturn, there can be extra momentum right now as all signs point to progress. Did I just sound like the writing of an 8-ball prophecy? I may have to re-read this post many times before I post it as I’m just one step away from completely getting out of hand.

SUMMARY – so, get crackin people. I don’t often see this level of possible movement, so let’s take advantage of it. If you are still not clear about some aspect of a project or direction you need to take, then this is the time to really make the effort to find out what you need to know in order to get moving.

As always, I love to receive feedback about how you are experiencing the transits I am writing about, I encourage you to write in and share what’s happening. If I’ve been too optimistic, forgive me, but I hope you will write in anyway.

Jim brings over 35 years of experience as a therapist and transformational counselor to his practice of astrology, metaphysics, meditation and philosophy. He operates as a teacher and counselor and specializes in the use of discourse as a part of his teaching approach.

16 responses to “Pure Progress”

Jim, I am a capi rising at 7 degrees so Saturn, my ruler, is at my mid heaven which is career, the universe has landed an opportunity of starting my own business that I have been praying for years to happen. During the mercury retro cycle (Gemini sun) planning has taken place and by Friday my website should launch and by next week around the time that Saturn hits 7 degrees I will have the cards needed to start the business! Amazing how this all works. I have always wondered what would happen at this time in my life and to see it come to fruition is amazing. I have done outside sales for about 7 yrs and now all that experience is really going to pay off knowing how to talk with businesses about my own product! Oh, I have south node at 16 degrees too..so I am really glad that it retrogrades a degree after that so the business does not fall apart but a time to re-evaluate and only one more pass! I don’t have to learn, relearn, and relearn again – I would call that reward for past effort!

I just completed my certification as a hypnotherapist yesterday. I have been working on that program for a year!! How am I going to use that to follow my passion in where I find myself today. As part of my last class I was required to prepare a budget for my first and third year of business….I found I needed much more accurate info on what it will take to reach my ultimate goal…helping others see, understand and use…the Love that is God… So, today I am in a bit of a spin…where to start ..where to look… waiting for direction to appear!! Did I mention Sun/Neptune conjunct 14 degrees Libra!

Wow this is a good article, this is exactly how it feels for me.
My bf & I seem to retracing some steps, thank goodness its easy to follow these
Steps since I have a calender I’ve marked for the past yr & a half & it seems like some things fights, jealousy peaks etc. Are happening on the exact same days as last yr. & we even got together to begin with last yr when venus went retrograde. Its been an insane & hard for the past few months & he is about to hit his return oct 10th I believe so he’s been in transition &now just in the past few weeks he’s turned intot the most amazing perfecy (scarily perfect boyfriend) & I feel the worst is behind us. I felt this same anticipation last yr at this same time end of sept beginning

Of oct 2009 but it wasn’t don’t exactly right & now I feel like I know what to do as opposed to last yr. So this makes perfect sense to me & again I’m amazed!
Amazed at astrology even after studying for 10yrs.

Sorry the last msg sent too early. Damn phones.
And again what I consider a headache regarding mercury rx usually really has been the best experience for me well at least till now, guess the superior conj hasn’t happened yet…. but I get the idea of where its going 😉

Hi Jim,
I hope I’m wrong, but I think you are being a bit optimistic….Pluto is of course squaring these degrees at the same time…it is currently moving forward and won’t retrograde again until about 7:30 Cap in April 2011. So in effect Pluto is squaring the degrees where Saturn is moving forward. I have Sun at 4:51 Lib and Moon at 11:20 Aries….so life currently is certainly not a picnic….and I am not yet feeling much release from the Pluto square. It feels very much to me like I am still doing time in some cosmic prison, and there is little I can do about it until this configuration moves….still about a year from what I can calculate. As I said, I definitely hope I am wrong….I am waiting for Jupiter and Uranus to go direct in Nov and Dec to begin to see some improvement.

I am an aspiring nephomancer and I just put up my blog. I can totally understand that this is a time of progress I haven’t seen for almost a year. Everything just fell into place within a short few days. Marvelous.

Don’t worry about being too Sagittarian, Jim! When you have good news, you gotta share it. 🙂 I also had not considered this aspect of Saturn’s cycle, but it totally fits with what I’m doing. Since the New Moon, have been on fire with rewriting and expanding my Astro Feng Shui report into a book. Good to know I have until Oct. 23 to get the first three chapters together to send to potential agents. Thanks! Love your work. And best of luck on your school – want to hear more about that!

My new website just went live on Saturday, so this is perfect timing! It helps to have your specific information and advice about making the most of this relatively rare period — and I have been staying with it better than my Gemini rising usually does — but then, that would be appropriate since Saturn is grinding it’s way through my fifth house.

As you can see from the many of responses to my article, Saturn rules the development of projects, goals, aims, and relationships. It is not, in itself, negative. In fact, it works in a very positive way when we make the effort over time to master something.

Pluto and Saturn, when operating together, are the epitome of intensely focused effort, where nothing in the world can stop us. Sure, it is where we can become obsessed. But it is also true that great achievment always coincides with what was once called – “divine obsession.”

Perhaps this is a good time to make great efforts to manifest something that we have always wanted to achieve…. as long as we are prepared and willing to work very hard for it.

Loved hearing about “Pure Progress” from you last week. It seems that life is asking me to get busy with collecting information, confirming spoken agreements and setting forth to craft and practically organize our vision for the Tea House and the development through mobile Tea Service. The work has definitely begun and there is no longer a collection of thoughts generating momentum in my head. I have been a little hesitant to believe the call for initiating, but I am now certainly feeling confident to dig in and take action on establishing the tools we need, the liscensing agreement and the marketing platform for which we will share our vision and experience. Seems that lots of help is showing up to promote and offer us venues to bring the Tea experience. It is definitely a time for work and progress. It feels good. Saturn’s pass over my Pluto in the 11th has definitely been important for the “development” of a “structure” for “transformation” in a social group setting.
Thanks as always,
Tim

Lol 😀 My Sagittarius moon and ascendant looove your (over?)optimism! This all rings true for me – not only in a clarity of mind and sense of direction sort of way, but also in a tangible – actions are finally getting results – way as well! (thank goodness).

To go into a little more detail, I am a Gemini-sun artist with many (often too many) skills… over the years I have developed one product after another in hopes to make my art more accessible to a wider range of people – each time with moderate success, and just enough issues to loose interest in the idea… within the last three weeks or so, while consciously doing some Mercury Retrograde back-tracking (looking at things or ideas I have left behind or unfinished), I managed to envision and create a new product that makes use of nearly all of the skills, resources, materials and outlets I have gathered over the past five years through all of my “experiments”. Simple, yet pro looking hand and book bags featuring my artwork on them. They are an honestly affordable hit ! I sold two at a party the first day I made them and have orders for more already. My over optimism is showing… I know… but I do have a really good feeling about this and doors seem to be opening… so over-optimistic I shall be!

Thanks Jim for the encouraging article – I will be sure to make the most of this prime time! And thank you also for a warm and wonderful first session in your astrology class- you have managed to bring together a great group of people. I am really looking forward to the journey we will all take together with you as our guide!

Love, Light, and all the Inspiration your Heart can hold!
~Helena Rose~

Well, I need to comment again as you were right! I have been involved in a long (nearly 3 years) legal case that has been eating up all my energy. I had another hearing scheduled for Sept 16th, I was expecting just another delay, and yet another court date set, and so was my lawyer. Out of the blue, the other side decided to settle, and offered me an acceptable amount to walk away and close everything. I was amazed and completely shocked. I now have a lot of rebuilding of my life to do, but this long and very painful period is over.
So Jim, you were absolutely correct!

Thank you, Jim, for the “heads up” as to the time frame. And if your School will be a type of “mystery school”, I would say “Excellent Adventure ahead”. And to everyone who aleady knows their Next Step, I honor the paths you are following.

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